Monday, June 21, 2010

Opening of Community Centre

On the 8th of June the launch of the Masakhane Community Centre, sponsored by SABMiller plc., was celebrated. Several prominent people from SABmiller plc., SAB Ltd., ABI, Local Government and the Magaliesburg community attended the function.
Standford Sambo, a member of the Masakhane HIV-Drama Group, was the Master of ceremonies for the event.
Community leader, Rosina Kubu, said that Masakhane had come a long way in standing up as a community and that the settlement was really starting to take control of it's development.
Social worker, Sam Savage, described the social factors influencing communities and people in rural areas. Development practitioner, Sonja van der Vyver, gave an overview of the project and said that the centre was a tangible manifestation of the progress which has been made by the community.
Sue Clarke, from SABMiller plc, expressed her exitement at seeing the centre complete and at the way in which the communty has made progress over the last two and a half years. Sue also performed the ceremony of cutting the ribbon and thus officially handing over the building to the community.
MMC, Olivea Caldeira, said that she was very exited to see how the project progresses in future and expressed the willingness of local government to asssist the project in any way possible.
In his speech, Councilor Dennis Thabe emphasised the importance of cooperation between the different stakeholders in a project such as the one at Masakhane and said that this was one of the main reasons for the success of the Masakhane Project.
The children of Masakhane charmed the audience by singing the national anthem: Nkosi sikilele iAfrika.
The Traditional- and Gumbootdancing items were sure favourites with the audience!

The Masakhane hip-hop group performed an item which gave a message of hope about HIV/Aids.
A plaque stating the support of SABMiller for this community was handed to the community.
A photographic display, depicting the different aspects of the project, was set up inside the centre.
This sign, which was put up above the main entrance to the centre was painted by some of the youth from Masakhane.
A highlight of the day was when the Masakhane Two4Joy Soccerteam showed off the gear they had received courtesy of ABI.

The food for this event was made by the women of the community and included conventional as well as traditional fare.

The day was a huge success and a landmark in the development of this community.